Boilers generally require soft water for an input. Hard water may lead to the development of scale or other problems developing with the boiler components.
One way of reducing the hardness of water is to use lime soda softening, hot lime soda softening, or mechanical techniques such as mechanical vapor compression. All these systems are effective at reducing hardness, however they may develop a sludge or other waste products, be expensive to operate, require expensive chemical and/or manpower requirements, and/or require sizeable processing equipment.
Copending U.S. Patent Application 60/786,274, filed Mar. 27, 2006, discloses a system comprising a well drilled into an underground formation; a production facility at a topside of the well; a steam production facility connected to the production facility; wherein the steam production facility produces water by removing some ions and adding an agent which increases the viscosity of the water and/or increases a hydrocarbon recovery from the formation, and injects the water into the well.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,456 discloses a process for treatment of water via membrane separation to remove hardness and non-hydroxide alkalinity by simultaneous removal in a weak acid cation exchange resin. The process includes ionization of sparingly ionizable components, such as silica, by adjusting the pH up to about 10.5 or higher. Their separation by the membrane is significantly increased. The passage of boron, silica and TOC is reduced by a factor of ten or more. Recovery of 90% or higher is achievable with most brackish feedwaters, while substantial reduction in cleaning frequency is simultaneously achieved. The apparatus used for the water treatment process includes reverse osmosis membrane(s), mixed bed ion exchange unit, micron filter, ultraviolet sterilization unit, decarbonation unit, and electrodeionization unit. U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,456 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Published PCT Application WO 2007/138327 discloses a water treatment system and a method of providing a supply of water of controlled salinity suitable for injection into an oil bearing reservoir including the steps of: substantially desalinating a first feed supply of water to provide a first supply of treated water of low salinity; treating a second feed supply of water to provide a second supply of treated water having a reduced concentration of divalent ions in compartison to the second feed supply and a higher salinity than the first supply of treated water; and mixing the first supply of treated water and the second supply of treated water to provide a supply of mixed water having a desired salinity suitable for injection into an oil bearing reservoir. The first feed supply is preferably treated by reverse osmosis. The second feed supply is preferably treated by nanofiltration.
Published PCT Application WO 2005/119007 discloses a method of recovering hydrocarbons from a porous subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation comprising the steps of: a) feeding to at least on reverse osmosis unit of a desalination assembly a high salinity water feed stream having a total dissolved solids content (total salinity) of at least 10,000 ppm; b) driving a portion of the high salinity water feed stream across a membrane in the reverse osmosis unit of the desalination assembly at a pressure above the osmotic pressure of the high salinity water feed stream while excluding at least a portion of the dissolved solids from crossing said membrane to produce a treated low salinity water product stream having a total salinity of less than 5,000 ppm and a concentrated waste brine stream wherein the hydrostatic head exerted by the high salinity water feed stream on the feed side of the membrane provides at least a major component of the pressure required to overcome the osmotic pressure; c) injecting the low salinity water product stream into the hydrocarbon-bearing formation from an injection well; d) displacing the hydrocarbons with the low salinity water product stream toward an associated production well; and e) recovering hydrocarbons from the formation via the production well.
Published PCT Application WO 2005/119007 discloses a method of recovering hydrocarbons from a porous subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation comprising the steps of: a) feeding to at least on reverse osmosis unit of a desalination assembly a high salinity water feed stream having a total dissolved solids content (total salinity) of at least 10,000 ppm; b) driving a portion of the high salinity water feed stream across a membrane in the reverse osmosis unit of the desalination assembly at a pressure above the osmotic pressure of the high salinity water feed stream while excluding at least a portion of the dissolved solids from crossing said membrane to produce a treated low salinity water product stream having a total salinity of less than 5,000 ppm and a concentrated waste brine stream wherein the hydrostatic head exerted by the high salinity water feed stream on the feed side of the membrane provides at least a major component of the pressure required to overcome the osmotic pressure; c) injecting the low salinity water product stream into the hydrocarbon-bearing formation from an injection well; d) displacing the hydrocarbons with the low salinity water product stream toward an associated production well; and e) recovering hydrocarbons from the formation via the production well. Published PCT Application WO 2005/119007 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a water processing system that produces reduced sludge and other waste products.
There is a further need in the art for a boiler water processing system that is less expensive to operate.
There is a further need in the art for a boiler water processing system that can operate without expensive chemical and/or manpower requirements.
There is a further need in the art for a boiler water processing system that operates with smaller and/or lighter processing equipment.
There is a further need in the art for a water processing system that produces steam and/or water for use in enhanced oil recovery processes.